Ways of the Sith
by Dees321
Summary: What if Darth Vader never suffered the injuries that made him don the iconic black armor? The Sith Lord is increasingly infuriated with his master, Darth Sidious, and seeks an apprentice to help him overthrow Palpatine. Star Wars and Harry Potter fanfiction.
1. Chapter 1

**Dear**** readers. I am saddened to say that I have abandoned the story, Harry Potter and the Sith Lord. However, I have another new fanfiction, set in my favorite era which I am more comfortable of. This one will also be a Star Wars and Harry Potter fanfiction. It draws inspiration from Heir To the Empire and the Force Unleashed...**

** Prologue**

Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, stood erect at the Imperial Star Destroyer's bridge viewport, clad in jet-black Sith robes designed to give maximum freedom of movement to the wearer, the sheer power of the Dark Side of the Force flowing through him like a winding river. Six months have passed since he killed his former Jedi mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, on Mustafar. Vader could still remember the shocked look on Kenobi's face when the blue blade of his lightsaber stabbed right through his opponent's torso. The man had turned Padme against him. It was only fair that the traitor deserved to die.

Padme, much to Vader's horror, died in childbirth like the vision had foretold, along with the twin infants. Right after he was done with Kenobi, Vader brought her to the care of the medical droid on his wife's starship, but even that did not stop her from dying. Something his new master told him sometime ago popped into his head.

_"To cheat death is a power only one has achieved. But if we work together, I'm sure we will discover the secret."_

Sidious had lied to him. Manipulated him from the start, just so the old man could get the perfect apprentice. Back when Vader tried to stop Mace Windu from killing the one he thought was a father figure to him, a friend, he was under the impression that the abomination actually had the power to save people from death. The truth was that only the Sith who trained Sidious knew the power. And when Sidious killed his own master in his sleep, the knowledge of the technique died with him.

Treachery, the way of the Sith.

Now, Vader had nothing else to live for. The very reason for him killing those Jedi in the temple in the first place and murdering Gunray and the rest of the separatist leaders on Mustafar, was all for the safety and stability of the Galactic Republic, recently reformed into a New Galactic Empire. The Jedi attempted to overthrow the Senate, and the separatists were a threat that must be extinguished. So Vader did his master's bidding and killed them, but in the end, his wife still died.

Actually, Vader did have something to live for. Power. As a Jedi fighting in the Clone Wars and serving the Republic, Anakin Skywalker was never trusted by the Jedi Council, and even when the then-Chancellor Palpatine granted him a seat on the Council, the Jedi refused to make him a Master. Now that Vader was Sidious' Sith Apprentice however, he was immediately made the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet. The men feared him. They called him 'Lord Vader'. The rest learned from the mistake of one Imperial Officer, who addressed Vader as "General Anakin Skywalker". The man died on the spot, his neck and windpipe crushed by the Force.

But that kind of power was not enough. Vader wanted more. He wanted to kill Sidious, watch him die slowly and slowly for all the old man had manipulated him, and take his place and the Ruler of the Galaxy. The only problem was that Sidious was too powerful. He couldn't do it alone. Then an idea sprang itself into Vader's mind.

An apprentice. An assassin at Vader's disposal.

The opportunity arose, when, having cleared threats to the internal security of the Empire on both Imperial Center and all of the surrounding systems, the Emperor sent Vader on a mission to lead the newly promoted Admiral Thrawn and his battalion on an exploration mission into the Unknown Regions that reminded strongly of _Outbound Flight._

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The hyperspace jump from Imperial Center, located near the Core, all the way out to Illum, the starting point for the Unknown Regions expansion project, took a few days, and gave Vader the much-needed spare time to meditate on the Dark Side and hone his lightsaber skills on the combat training droids. Awhile ago, Sidious had started training him on the art of channeling Force Lightning from his good left hand, an ability that the Dark Lord of the Sith was not yet quite powerful at, and Vader still found it easier to just demolish his targets with his lightsaber.

When he wasn't doing any of those, Vader often conversed with Admiral Thrawn. Vader learned many things about the man, such as how the blue-skinned Chiss came to serve the Empire in the first place. What intrigued him most was the fact that Thrawn's knowledge and understanding of art made the admiral know so much about specific species' culture and ways of life. Only a real tactical genius would be capable of something like that.

"Thrawn would make a great Grand Admiral" Vader thought to himself.

When at last the fleet of three Imperial Star Destroyers finally arrived in the Illum system, Vader immediately ordered for them to begin the voyage into the largely unexplored parts of the Unknown Regions and beyond. The first three days gave no surprise. Nothing but the endless expanse of stars and nebulas. On the fourth, however, a particular solar system, consisting of eight planets in orbit around a large sun, located near the edge of the Galactic disk, caught Vader's attention.

"Approach that system, Captain." Vader told the bridge captain in a loud and clear voice, not bothering to turn away from the bridge viewport.

The Captain's reply was all crisp and business-like. "Yes, my lord."

The fleet moved closer and closer to the lone solar system. Scanners showed that only the third planet from the sun was breathable and housed life forms all over the equator. Then Vader sensed something. A surge of unexpected Force energy calling out to him from the planet's surface. The being that the surge originated from would make a most useful apprentice.

"My Lord, permission to send down a scouting party?" asked Thrawn, who stood nearby.

"Permission denied, Admiral. Tell the crew to prepare a shuttle. I will go down there myself."


	2. Chapter 2

**The next chapter has arrived! Please review if possible. I would certainly like to hear people's opinion on this story so I could decide which direction i would go in the future chapters. Note: For those of you who are confused why this chapter is called 'Chapter One', its because the last chapter is actually the prologue.**

**Chapter One**

Voldermort strode confidently past the metal gates that surrounded his target's refuge. The house in front of him was hidden by the Fidelius Charm no longer, thanks to Pettigrew's information. The Greatest Wizard on the world would soon obliterate the prophesized boy that might, someday in the future, carry enough power to challenge someone like him. But that day would not come. The Potter's child must die, no matter what, and only then will Voldermort Lord truly rule supreme.

Before the Dark Lord could walk further, he heard footsteps coming from behind him. Who could it be? Black? Lupin? Or one of his own Death Eaters? Voldermort remembered reminding each and everyone of them that he would do this himself, and that, coupled with the fact that his minions feared him, made the possibility of the new arrival being one of his servants almost impossible. Even Lucius would not dare defy him.

Wand in hand, he turned around to face the intruder, a tall, hooded figure clad in loose, black robes. The figure, face hidden in the shadows of the hood and the dark of the night, merely raised out a hand, and Voldermort immediately felt his throat began to constrict, as if some invisible force was trying to choke the very breath out of him.

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Darth Vader applied more pressure with the Force onto the neck of the strange pale-skinned, slit-nosed humanoid. In his entire life he had never seen another member of this species before. But of course, on a world so far off and isolated from the Galactic Core, an undiscovered species of near-humans was to be expected. No matter, the creature before him was, as of the present, largely insignificant compared to the discovery of Vader's Sith apprentice.

That was exactly why the Dark Lord of the Sith, separated from "slit-nose" by only several meters, snapped the upstart's neck and released the now-dead body from his Force grip, letting the corpse fall to the ground. Vader wasted no more time. He made his way closer and closer to the "house", which appeared to be a rather primitive-looking structure. He ignited his lightsaber, a new model given by Sidious months ago that had been put to great use by Vader on many occasions, the light from the glowing red blade of energy searing through the darkness.

Vader plunged his saber's blade into what looked to be a wooden door, cutting a perfect straight square all the way through. The presence that he sensed inside suddenly released waves of fear and anger, but it could not have been his apprentice. The Force aura from the presence felt, weak. Then Vader sensed another, more powerful presence began creeping itself into his senses.

His apprentice was in the house.

Pushing out with a blast of powerful telekinetic Force energy that shattered the wooden door and sent the large splinters crashing into the house, the Sith Lord stepped over the pieces of debris he had caused and into a large living room. Gray pictures that could move on their own hung the walls and wooden chairs and table littered the floor. Not that Vader cared about any of the little details. His attention was focused solely on the man standing in the middle of the room, a human male with unkempt hair and some kind of focusing lens placed in front of his hazel eyes. Upon seeing Vader, the fear that had been there moments ago was replaced by confusion radiating from the man's Force aura, as confirmed by the puzzled and slightly fearful look on his face.

Smirking evilly and letting the Dark Side fill his eyes and veins, Vader lowered his hood.

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James was confused and a bit scared. He had expected Voldermort to come here himself, not that he wanted it to really happen. But instead of the Dark Lord coming in through the door, another had entered. A hooded figure who immediately lowered his hood to reveal a young man with with curly blonde hair and eyes glowing with some inner orange fire.

Before James could even think of pulling out his wand, the robed stranger became a hazy wind of black and glowing red that zoomed towards him so fast. So fast that, the painful, burning sensation that sliced through his chest didn't hurt one bit before every nerve in his body went numb.

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A long, wooden staircase led up to the house's second floor. Now Vader could felt his apprentice the clearest, the Force aura growing brighter than ever, in the next room with another presence. Upon entering the brightly lit bedroom that also looked to serve a double-purpose of a nursery, it did not surprise the Dark Lord of the Sith one bit to find a young baby lying in a cot, and a young woman with bright green eyes, a panicked look on her face, leaning against the wall.

"No! Don't touch my Harry" the woman screamed as she rushed at Vader.

With the Force giving Vader the instinctive ability of precognition, just like any other trained Force user, the Sith Lord had no problem angling his body to dodge the useless attempts at physical attacks from the woman, and reached out with his gloved right hand, the cybernetic one, gripping the woman's neck and stopping her mid-kick.

The Force coursed through his muscles, granting him the physical strength that exceed the limits of a normal human, Darth Vader hurled the woman's still-struggling body right at the window and out into the night, breaking the glass-like material in the process.

The infant before him opened his eyes, green and similar to the woman Vader had just killed, the woman who he was sure must be the child's mother. No matter, the legacy of the Sith will continue on one day with the initiation, knighthood, and, in many years to come, possible betrayal of his new apprentice, the death of Sidious, and the reformation of the Galactic Empire to the government that it claimed to be from the start, but never came close, a real Empire that would bring peace, justice, and order to the galaxy, instead of the "rule through fear of Force rather than Force" dogma that Sidious took from the newly promoted Governor Willhuff Tarkin.

The Sith Order will thrive…

Activating his comlink, Vader spoke. "Admiral Thrawn, send down a scouting party immediately, then contact the nearest Outer Rim Imperial relay outpost and inform them of our discovery."

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Albus Dumbledore was filled with confusion. Days ago, he and a team of aurors from the Ministry of Magic arrived at the Potter's hidden refuge in Godric's Hollow, once hidden under the effects of a Fidelius Charm, only to find more questions than answers. There was no sign of Voldermort, although they had detected a residual presence of Dark Magic leak from the lawn in front of the house. In the living room, the corpse of James Potter lay sprawled on the floor with a deep gash on his chest. At first Albus assumed that a mysterious assailant had ended James' life with a cutting curse of some sort, but closer inspection revealed that the area where his skin was gashed over had been cauterized, almost as if his former pupil's killer had accurately burned that area of skin away. It frightened Albus. The old man wondered if such a feat was possible with magic. Sure, spells like _Incendio_ and the like could also generate and launch storms of fire, but actually controlling it manually and so accurately? Even if such a strange spell could be done, why the killer simply refused to use more direct methods, such as the Killing Curse or the Cruciatus, confused Albus even more.

The team had found Lily's body out in the right side of the outside lawn, her bones broken by hard impact against the ground. If they had arrived an hour sooner, then a mediwizard could mend the broken limbs and cracked skull, but unfortunately she died, slowly and painfully from loss of blood. Oh why? Why did two of his best students, noble and vigilant, have to meet such horrible ends?

The shocking fact came last. There was no sign of Harry Potter. The Potter scion, the boy whose future had been foretold by a prophecy had simply, with lack of a better word, disappeared. Handing the paperwork to the Ministry officials, Albus immediately returned to Hogwarts and checked the student roster in 1991. he rolled his eyes down the long piece of worn parchment until his eyes, behind their half-moon spectacles, found the name _Harry Potter. _His first thought were...

_Harry is alive!_

Albus turned to Fawkes the pheonix and asked. "Fawkes, my old friend. Can you take me to Harry Potter?"

A great deal of disappointment welled up in Albus when his phoenix familiar replied, saying that Harry is now too far away.

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Twenty years later...

The yellow landscape of Vjun did well at showcasing the deep, foreboding valleys and whatever dangers the forsaken planet held. The sky, a hazy orange, stretched as far as the eye could see, at least until it met the ground that went equally as far, and connected, forming an eerie skyline that blended in perfectly well.

In the distance, something stood erect and tall, a symbol of fear, might, and power. From the reinforced durasteel exterior, a gray and black mass of protective element, to the turbolaser turrets and one visibly broad landing platform that stretched out several meters from the structure, Bast Castle made Vjun felt even more unwelcome.

No one would know of the conflict slowly developing on the castle's upper levels, or the existance of at least one of the participants. In a wide, shadowy room, Desolic, Sith Lord and apprentice to one of the most powerful being in the galaxy, stared at the darkness. Throwing his senses in the Force wide open, the young dark warrior walked forward slowly.

The sudden snap-hiss that signified the ignition of a lightsaber came a split-second after Desolic received the warning through the Force, his own lightsaber falling into his hands and activated just in time to intercept the strike that emerged from the shadows. The initial attack blocked, his opponent pulled back, a whirling mass of black robes, and, as if on coincidence, returned with a forceful, battering Djem-So "power strike", the same move that Desolic executed perfectly, clashing both their glowing red blades jarringly at the exact same time.

The two continued to exchange blows, parries, and slashes, dodging when circumstances allowed. Suddenly, Desolic's shadowy enemy, perhaps bored or tired by the continued exchange of moves centering around the lightsaber combat form V, changed tactics, raising his left hand, not gloved like the right one, and released a barrage of crackling electricity generated through the Force that lit the whole room in a blue glow. As the lightning streaked through space towards Desolic, the young Sith apprentice could just make out his master's face beneath the black hood, including the scar than ran down over his right eye. A memory from many years ago resurfaced inside his head...

_The young boy, only four or five years old, looked up at his master. The blonde, browning haired man with a scar running over his right eye looked __down at him, smiling. _

_"It is time, my apprentice, that you learn how to wield power. Do you want power?" asked the man._

_The boy answered immediately, not hiding the smile also forming on his excited face. "Yes, my master."_

_"Unlimited power comes from the Force, an energy field that surrounds everything. A society called 'the Sith' learn how to harness its power and bend it to their will. They use the Force to achieve great things." the man paused, then continued. "I am a Lord of the Sith. I control the dark Side of the Force and bend it to my will."_

_The boy's master lifted both his hands into the air, and various different objects around the room rose also into the air at the same time, levitated above the ground. The show of power piqued the boy's interests, and he couldn't help but ask. "How can I learn this power?"_

_The man answered, strecthing his words. "From a Sith Lord. You are one fortunate boy among the many lesser beings that cannot hope to ever understand the power of the Dark Side of the Force. Learn from me as an apprentice, increase your power until you are capable of much more, then we will rule the galaxy as Dark Lords of the Sith!"_

_The boy couldn't believe himself. The opportunity to gain unlimited power was at his fingertips. "I pledge myself to your teachings, master."_

_"Rise, my apprentice. Henceforth, you shall be known as Desolic, Dark Lord of the Sith."_


End file.
